Leading cryptocurrency company Ripple is deepening its relationship with the Republic of Georgia, exploring ways to digitize the local economy together with the National Bank of Georgia (NBG).
Natia Turnava, Acting Governor of NBG, and Varlam Ebanoidze, Head of the Bank’s Financial and Supervisory Technology Development Department, met with James Wallis, Executive Director of Ripple, to strengthen cooperation in the field of financial technology and digitalization.
The Central Bank of Georgia officially announced the meeting in a LinkedIn post on June 8.
At the meeting, Wallis, who serves as Ripple’s vice president of central banking, introduced Georgia officials to Alistair Brown, head of Ripple’s partner EPAM Systems.
“It is an honor to return to Tbilisi and introduce Alistair Brown of our partner EPAM Systems to NBG Acting Governor Natia Turnava,” said Wallis.
Headquartered in Newtown, Pennsylvania, EPAM specializes in software engineering services, digital platform engineering, and digital product design. The name “EPAM” is an abbreviation for “Effective Program for America.”
Build collaboration based on existing partnerships
According to NBG’s official statement, the discussions focused on exploring potential ways of cooperation to digitize Georgia’s economy.
The new collaboration builds on the previous partnership between NBG and Ripple, with Ripple serving as the technology partner for NBG’s pilot CBDC project, called digital lari.
As previously reported, NBG announced plans in September 2023 to invite nine companies, including Ripple Labs, to participate in the Digital Lari project by advancing CBDC research. Afterwards, financial authorities selected Ripple Labs as the official technology partner for the development of digital Lari.
Ripple supports global CBDC initiatives
The Central Bank of Georgia is not the only global central bank collaborating with Ripple on CBDC development and related integrations. In addition to Georgia, Ripple Labs has also participated in CBDC pilots in countries such as Colombia, Bhutan, Palau, Montenegro, and others.
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In late 2023, Ripple doubled down on public support for the development of a global CBDC with a 23-page white paper. “CBDCs are needed to support the most important and positive impact of asset tokenization, which is an increasingly targeted mechanism for converting tangible assets into digital tokens stored on the blockchain,” the company wrote.
Companies like Ripple have supported the development of CBDCs, but some critics are concerned about potential CBDC-related downsides, such as privacy issues and government surveillance.
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